Page 50 of The Saint and the First-Time Sinner

“You’re the one who reached down there.”

“Mmm, and I’d happily do it again.”

“Is that…” I grunted faintly as he pulled out. “Jesus, go slow when you do that. Everything’s sensitive.”

“Really? Well, you learn something new. I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. It wasn’t an apology, but I had to admit inferring he would do better in the future was better. “Now, what were you saying?”

I pushed myself up, yanking my scrub pants to my waist. I hesitated when I turned to find him shirtless. “What are you…”

“Cleaning up.” He snorted, using his shirt to wipe his hands and groin clean. “I don’t relish walking across the house to clean up when I’d rather sit down and relax.”

“I’m glad I could be of service,” I said dryly.

To my surprise, he reached out and took my chin in his fingers. “Are you saying I wasn’t?”

I stared back at him. “I wouldn’t call it that. It wasn’t a service.”

“Exactly,” he said, surprising me further by giving me a quick peck on the lips.

Stunned into silence, I watched him round the chair and plop down where he had been before. His shirt was balled up, and he let it drop to the floor as he leaned back in his seat. There was something different about him now, and I recognized the signs of a post-sex glow.

“What?” he asked as he closed his eyes.

“What…what are we doing?”

“I’m relaxing. What are you doing?”

“You know full well that’s not what I mean.”

“Is this where you try to put a label on something? Why can’t we be two people who irritate each other, are attracted to each other, and enjoy having a bit of fun with each other?”

I straightened. “I irritate you?”

“You have from the first moment you ever gave me a hard time or when you’ve not even bothered to hide your dislike or distrust of me. And every time it’s happened since.”

“Then why do you…”

“Why do you?”

I stopped short and glared at him. “I hope I’m not supposed to answer that because I’m not.”

“And I wasn’t planning on offering you any explanation either,” he told me. “Why can’t we just let things be as they are without having to explain or label anything? I have enough in my life that’s throwing everything into chaos. Why add another complication? I enjoy it. You enjoy it, so let’s just enjoy it.”

It occurred to me then that he was…worried about everything. Under his irreverent facade and cocky demeanor, he was actually afraid of what was happening to his mother. It was why he’d never once made even the slightest mention of the possibility of her not making it and perhaps why he had chosen to stay so close to the house. And maybe this…thing between us was a reaction to that.

Was that what I wanted to be? The comfort of some cocky rich boy who was scared because his mom was dying? Then again, it wasn’t like I hadn’t exactly got something out of the arrangement, as unspoken as it had been up to this point. Shane wasn’t demanding anything, and I could confidently say he wouldn’t attempt to bully or bribe me.

“Never during the day,” I said, leaning over the chair and faintly wondering what the hell I was doing.

His eyes opened, and I saw a flash of surprise. “Never during the day.”

“And not while in the house.”

“Afraid of getting caught?”

“That, and I don’t like having to muffle myself when I’m really into it.”

A grin spread over his features. “Why, I do believe that was a compliment.”

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